Categories

Tag: Skin

Mom bloggers and Instagram influencers are very popular on social media, but part of the job is receiving a lot of scrutiny for how you’re doing as a parent. One woman just got put through the gauntlet after posting an innocent picture of her kid enjoying a beach day.

This is her daughter Winter (thus, life with Winter):

Winter is more camera shy than her mom. Then there’s the wee babe, Wilde, who has not yet developed the motor functions to crawl away from branding opportunities:

As a mom Instagram model, Jones shares a lot of pic of the kids enjoying surf and sun, but one picture of Winter recently kicked up a controversy. It showed Winter walking along the beach, appearing very tan:

According to Metro.uk, Jones woke up to discover the post had been flagged and removed.

Apparently, the image had been littered with comments about Winter’s skin tone, like, “It’s disgusting to see how dark your daughter’s skin in,” and “Have you heard of suncream? How about you start using it before your kid looks 40 at four. Horrible mother.”

Jones believes the image was flagged because people were disparaging her daughter’s skin. She posted a follow up on Instagram telling the haters to step off:

In the caption she wrote:

The comments were full of supportive people who tan easily:

The feedback was so positive that Jones followed with another pic of Winter having a blast on the beach:

In the caption, Jones says that she’s incredibly grateful for the response, and states that her family is of Aboriginal descent, which is partly of why Winter’s skin tends to tan quickly rather than burn:

“So the past 48 hours has been pretty crazy for me. I didn’t expect to get the response I have from my post. I want to say a huge thankyou for everyone writing to me, I appreciate your support and kind words. It’s lovely to see that majority of people writing to me are against online bullying. In regards to the photo I posted I can totally see both sides of the ballpark now. I saw no problem with the photo I chose to post because there was no inappropriate parts showing, just Winters side profile. I just want to say though that I do respect even the people who have wrote into me disagreeing with my post but I thank you for going about it in a tasteful way and not shaming my child for her skin colour. We are of Aboriginal decent and we are proud of our heritage. I have learnt a lot from this experience and I won’t change the way I post but I will be more mindful of what I choose to share online. Thankyou once again for connecting with me and sharing your own stories. I’m making my way through my messages and will get back to every one of you.”

Look, nothing is keeping this family off the beach:

They got an umbrella, they got sunscreen—now everyone else should get a life!

Jonathan Pitre was born with a rare skin disease that covers his body in blisters, called epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

There are two forms of EB: regressive and aggressive. Those diagnosed with the latter sadly often die from skin cancer early on in life.

As he approached his 16th birthday, Jonathan and his mother, Tina Boileau, learned of a new and dangerous stem cell procedure that could repair his damaged skin.

The treatment required Pitre’s mother to donate her stem cells to her son, which would replace his white blood cells with her own. Eight of the 30 children who’ve had the procedure performed on them have already died of infections. Those who survived, however, have improved skin conditions, fewer blisters, and better overall healing. In other words, their lives were changed.

Boileau and her son decided to go through with the operation, which required doctors to extract bone marrow from Jonathan’s mother, and inject the stem cells from that marrow into the teen.

In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Pitre talked about his decision to go through with the operation.

“One of the reasons we’re doing it is to try to prolong my life. Right now, if we don’t do anything, I may not live to be 20. Maybe 18 even. So my time really is running short…“Hopefully, my quality of life will improve — that’s the No. 1 thing. We know it’s not a cure.”

The family moved from their native Canada to Minnesota where they prepped for the procedure.

For months, Boileau donated skin, blood, and bone marrow for the transplants necessary to help her son.

On Tuesday evening, the news was in: Pitre’s stem cell transplant was successful. It worked.

“Jon is full of me. He doesn’t have any T cells that are his,” Tina said, beaming at the good news.

For Tina, the surgery’s success is a late Mother’s Day gift. For Jon, an early birthday present, especially since his first transplant last Thanksgiving failed.

Tina celebrated the good news by taking Jonathan out for a walk in the hospital hallway.

Doctors are now keeping an eye out for any diseases that might crop up in the wake of Jonathan’s successful surgery, particularly graft-versus-host-disease, or GVHD. So he’s got another fight ahead of him, but this is a major milestone for the young man from Ottawa and his mother. (h/t ottawa citizen)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year; we can expect snow, presents, family time, and lots of drinks next to a warm fire. However, you may have to tone down the Christmas cheer and sub out the eggnog and wine for something non-alcoholic.

As if 2016 hasn’t brought us enough tragic news, we have some information that may ruin happy hour.

Experts have recently discovered a link between alcohol and skin cancer.

A new study, published in an American Association for Cancer Research journal, found people who consume alcohol daily have a 14 percent greater risk of melanoma than non-drinkers. Daily drinkers who consume 20 or more grams of alcohol per day (about a drink and a half) also face a 73 percent greater risk of skin cancers in areas that aren’t exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

The findings get even more tragic.

Chardonnay lovers, you may need to sit down for this one. White wine drinkers in the study had a 13 percent greater risk of developing melanoma (compared to red wine, beer, or liquor drinkers).

Don’t panic just yet. There is still research to be done on the subject.

Researchers still don’t know why, exactly, alcohol is linked to greater risk of skin cancer in areas that aren’t typically exposed to the sun. They also can’t apply the findings to non-white ethnic groups, as the sample size of the study did not contain enough people of color to draw conclusions… So perhaps we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet?

…Okay, maybe you can panic a little.

Even though we don’t have all the answers yet, the American Cancer Society has already issued recommendations to limit alcohol consumption, and the study’s authors advised people at high risk for melanoma to re-think their daily drinking habits.

Ultimately, you may want to re-think white wine night.

Time to start the grieving process. The first stage is denial.

We can’t cope with this kind of tragedy without a good bottle of wine. (h/t cosmopolitan)